Posted By Yuka Yoneda On August 9, 2010 @ 9:33 am In Air quality,Botanical | No Comments

One of the keys to birthing innovation is thinking outside the box, and Rael San Fratello Architects[1] certainly went way beyond that with their somewhat frightening migrating floating gardens concept. The octopus-like greenery would float through the skies suspended by vines from large remotely controlled airships[2] migrating from city to city and cleaning the air. While the idea might look crazy, the designers explain, "As the Cartesian axes have all been heavily considered as sites for green (horizontal parks, vertical building walls and even rooftops), the logical next location lies in non-Cartesian space—floating in the air."

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The verdant dirigibles[5] would target areas where the heat island effect is greatest, and could be programmed to travel to southern cities during winter months vice versa. Each plant would have sensors capable of gauging the weather, traffic, pollution, noise levels and other urban data in real time. The plants would also have their own “individual propelled devices”, allowing them to detach from the mother ship and move independently. Using GPS and GIS to coordinate their flocking patterns, swarms of the loose plants could motor around the city providing shade, purifying air[6] and adding greenery to urban spaces in need.

So what would power these alien-esque gardens? Each pod would also be equipped with its own photovoltaic skin, that would gather solar power[7] for charging. At night, individual plants can return to home base for refueling and watering. While cleaning the air[6] and mitigating the heat island effect would be the floating gardens’[8] primary purpose, they would also be able to perform cool secondary functions like advertising through three-dimensional sky-writing!